Articles Spring 2013 (23)

Botanic Gardens (3) Aswan, Egypt

In May 2012, I visited the botanic garden on Kitchener’s Island near the city of Aswan in Southern Egypt. The oval shaped island in the Nile is home to many types of subtropical, exotic and rare plantings, a collection begun by Lord Kitchener and expanded since. I remember buying a few packs of hibiscus tea from a street vendor. Plenty of tourists were strolling in the shade between the rows of trees. A female schoolteacher shouted at me because I wanted to take an innocent picture of herself with her class of small children. The island was given to Lord Kitchener as a reward for his services in the Sudan Campaign (1896-1898). With the aid of the Ministry of Irrigation, Kitchener rapidly transformed the small 750 metres (2,460 ft) long island into a paradise of exotic trees and plants in carefully gardens with view walkways. It later passed into the property of the Egyptian government and was used as a research station for examining different food and cash crops. Today a biological research station is located at the southern tip, which is closed to botanical garden visitors. The island and gardens can be reached by felucca, motorboat, or one of local ferries. Below are a few of my photographs plus some other ones. Lord Kitchener Field MarshalHoratio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, 24 June 1850 – 5 June 1916) was a British Field Marshal and proconsul who won fame for his imperial campaigns and later played a central role in the early part of the First World War, although he died halfway through it. Kitchener won fame in 1898 for winning the Battle of Omdurman and securing control of the Sudan, after which he was given the title "Lord Kitchener of Khartoum"; as Chief of Staff (1900–02) in the Second Boer War he played a key role in Lord Roberts' conquest of the Boer Republics, then succeeded Roberts as commander-in-chief – by which time Boer forces had taken to guerrilla fighting and British forces imprisoned Boer civilians in concentration camps. His term as Commander-in-Chief (1902–09) of the Army in India saw him quarrel with another eminent proconsul, the Viceroy Lord Curzon, who eventually resigned. Kitchener then returned to Egypt as British Agent and Consul-General (de facto administrator). In 1914, at the start of the First World War, Lord Kitchener became Secretary of State for War, a Cabinet Minister. One of the few to foresee a long war, he organized the largest volunteer army that Britain, and indeed the world, had seen and a significant expansion of materials production to fight Germany on the Western Front. His commanding image, appearing on recruiting posters demanding "Your country needs you!", remains recognized and parodied in popular culture to this day. Despite having warned of the difficulty of provisioning Britain for a long war, he was blamed for the shortage of shells in the spring of 1915 – one of the events leading to the formation of a coalition government – and stripped of his control over munitions and strategy. Kitchener was killed in 1916 when the warship taking him to negotiations in Russia was sunk by a German mine. After his death he was criticized, and often dismissed as a great poster but not a great administrator. Lloyd George for instance – who may have taken credit for some of Kitchener's achievements in the field of munitions – was critical of Kitchener in his War Memoirs. After many years' experience of commanding relatively small forces in imperial campaigns, Kitchener had made his reputation worse by his habit of secrecy, unwillingness to explain his actions to his colleagues, and reluctance to delegate. Since 1970, the opening of new records has led historians to rehabilitate Kitchener's reputation to some extent. Neillands, for instance, notes that Kitchener consistently rose in ability as he was promoted. Some historians now praise his strategic vision in World War I, especially his laying the groundwork for the expansion of munitions production and his central role in the raising of the British army in 1914 and 1915, providing a force capable of meeting Britain's continental commitment. Back to Aswan, if and when

So much for history. If you’re ever around - and you should - take a felucca to the island as we did, and enjoy the splendid garden. I’ve been to see the ruins of the St. Simeon Monastery in the nearby desert and a Nubian village with a guide, and have been to the Coptic cathedral on my own. But I haven’t visited the Nubian Museum yet, in which many treasures of the Nubian culture are on display. I haven’t been across Nasser Lake either, nor have I taken a bus or a plane to world famous Abu Simbel temple. So I hope to be able to return to Egypt, as I was absolutely charmed by the mighty Nile, by Nubian smiles and the grandiose ancient temples, many of which have been saved and brought to new “life” thanks to the research and tenacious work of European archeologists – British, French, German, Belgian and so on. Christian Egyptians, ten percent of the population, still use the original ancient Egyptian language during worship, and are having a hard time amidst the Sunni majority in today’s volatile situation. Let us hope that the political situation will calm down and that peaceful coexistence will allow the country do develop in a harmonious way. 26th April 2013.